logsinthenight | That One With the Meeting [OPEN]

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That One With the Meeting [OPEN]

characters: Cao Pi and OPEN!!!
location: the town hall
date/time: appx moonrise Sept. 2, for a couple of hours
content: Cao Pi proposed a meeting for everyone to talk about what ideas they have for organizing, protecting the town, and safely exploring their confines. This is that meeting. Newcomers are welcome as well! Assume characters have heard about it through the grapevine, but especially on Sept. 1 as Cao Pi makes the rounds and tells people this is happening. He will have a moment to orate but after that the floor is open, threadjacking is encouraged, and whatever comes of this is a complete free-for-all!
warnings: probably some discussion of character death. lmk if I need to edit this.

Despite the fact that Will Ingram's messages providing further information were yet to come, Cao Pi had made a public promise and he would hold himself to it, carrying out his meeting as described. At moonrise on the 2nd, he is already present in the town hall, hoping to see not just those who told him they would be there, but also some of the unfortunate newcomers freshly thrown into this situation. He had done his best to prowl around the Invincible and the bonfire, mentioning that the meeting would happen, but he still had to rely on word of mouth to do its work.

When he decides there are enough people present to begin, the Lord of Wei steps up before the assembly, clearing his throat importantly. "For better or worse," he begins, "we are a community. A town, if we are not a country. The hints and cryptic comments from the Lighthouse Keeper have suggested that we have a job to do, but we're still waiting on information as to what it is and why - why us, why the dead stolen from their worlds or their respective afterlives. But the recent mission to connect the Keeper to the network our tablets can access has shown a number of weaknesses that may hamper our ability to do any job, let alone the one which will keep us all from being permanently obliterated." Is that harsh? Too bad. He doesn't care. "We know a few things for certain. One, that we must carry out the purpose which the Keeper understands and encourages. Two, if we fail in any way, she will kill us all by ordering the spirits to destroy us. Three, the spirits deep in the forest are not just her weapon against us, but they have their own will and may attack or destroy anyone who simply wanders out too far. Our explorations have uncovered a number of things but not everything, by far. If you are new or simply haven't kept up on the recent developments, the record is here." He holds out a hand to the logbooks kept there in the town hall.

"I've asked you here to discuss the issues facing us in Beacon, and to offer up any ideas for how to solve those issues. There are quite a few of them, some that even I, perhaps, haven't considered yet. Please be orderly and take your turns, but I should like to hear from everyone. Whether you have questions, or have an idea you wish to share, please. Speak up. We will all be better for the sharing of ideas and discussion of pros and cons, rather than just waiting and hoping that someone will take charge and give us orders."

With that, he steps aside, inviting anyone and everyone to come up and speak. Or simply rise from their seat and speak. The floor is open, Beacon, use it to say things that you might not want anyone connected to the network to overhear. Sass the Keeper, gush about the Postmaster, whatever you want. Hopefully by the end of it all, someone might have some plans that can be brought about. For his part, Cao Pi is not putting himself up as any sort of authority or the one actually in charge, he literally is only there as organizer and moderator and nothing else. At least, so his cool half-smirk and perfect manners would suggest...

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When he gets a turn, Cao Pi steps in front again to mention specifically who he is and what is stakes are in this meeting. "My name is Cao Pi, styled Zihuan, and my title at home is the King of Wei. I have experience in matters of rule and the military, but that by no means indicates anything here. I am, as you all are, dead.

"But what bothers me most is that we have a small population which could, and should work together toward our common goals. It pains me to hear how many have gotten themselves killed wandering off, trying to explore without a plan in mind, and so on. I don't fault the people who volunteered to assist Winters with the mission the lighthouse. The end result was important. But we lost so, so much in the process."

He pauses, as if to observe a moment of silence for the dead. The extra-dead, if you will. "I hate to see people suffer needlessly, whether experiencing a second or third death and being forcefully resurrected to go through it all again, or facing a more permanent form of death. We can do better. We should do better. Whether we care for one another or simply know the intellectual prudence of relying on each other, it doesn't matter - we can help each other. I would rather see us somewhat organized, like a town should be. People who can welcome newcomers. People who can protect in case of attack. People who can escort explorers and make sure they return alive. People who can provide additional services that would make life easier for us all. I know you're all out there. What I would like to do is determine who has what skills and who would be best in what role. If I must actually organize anyone, I will, though I'm aware that some have a problem with simply being given orders or direted by a leader. At present, we have no leader. Whether you want one or not, it is my assertion that we need one. But I will not presume to be him unless asked."

It may be clear by now but Cao Pi really likes to hear himself talk. He'll open the floor to questions and abuse, though. Bring it on.

Feeling kind of (justifiably) called out for the 'trying to explore without a plan in mind' aside-

Daylight raises a servo up to get (King? Zihuan? Sir??) Cao Pi's attention when the opening talk seems to have wrapped up. A kinda redundant action for him to do given his height and his build, he knows, but he doesn't want to speak over anyone who might also want to have a say on this.

When he's sure he's allowed to speak, he first clears his vocaliser of the white noise that's been building up. Then he asks, "Does it only have to be one person, though? The leader role, I mean." He pauses for a second, trying to gather his thoughts because he's just talking first, thinking second. "That's a lot to put on someone and, um, you're right that there might be disagreements with others. On someone calling the shots.

"Maybe... Maybe we could divide the responsibility and stuff like that. Break it down to smaller, manageable stuff. So there's more structure and... stuff." Yeah. Stuff.

Cao Pi has heard tell of this...metal person, how much help he's been, so part of him is pleased to finally make his acquaintance. Especially given the astute query. He smiles, cool and calm. "Of course not. In fact, I have had it proposed from others that a team or committee would do best, in order to share the work and make the most of everyone's skills. I quite agree. They could also keep each other accountable."

He lifts a hand in an encouraging gesture, palm up, almost inviting those present to agree or argue at will. "Disagreements will happen, no one is saying we all have to love one another. But even those who dislike one another may still find themselves agreeing on a plan of action."

Rosinante is glad - and not at all surprised - when someone else speaks up before him on the topic of leadership. He mostly wants to sit back and let the others talk, only weighing in when needed, but this feels like one of those moments.

"Thanks for bringing that up, Daylight. That's what I'd like to see, too - a committee, as Cao Pi says. We all have a lot of specialties and different types of knowledge. We should use that to our advantage."

Kol may be fresh off the ferry, but it's not his first rodeo with being dead. Fortunately for him, it never seems to stick. This is the first time he's died and had a mission tasked to him before he's even had a chance to get a haircut.

Today, he's wearing a white shirt that at least fits. Arms crossed against his chest, he arches his brow as he regards them. (He's set aside being caught up in the fact one of them is a robot for now. Sorry, Daylight.) Look, it's not a bad idea, but as someone who has been on the outs of a "committee" despite his best efforts to be included, he's not for groups taking leadership over others. In fact, he's never liked authority at all.

"A committee?" By the tone of his voice, he's not quite agreeable to it, but he's not argumentative either. "Say we agree to a committee. How many people will be on this committee? How will the committee be created? What will govern this committee? Do we really need a leader when we should all have common sense?"

Riku had been hanging back, but takes this moment to step forward, glancing over Kol as he speaks. He doesn't agree with the idea, and Riku can speculate on the reasons why, he can even relate, nodding.

"Except that's the problem, common sense doesn't mean universal. Not everybody needs a leader, but not everybody can thrive being completely independent."

It's a bit of a playing Devil's Advocate argument, Riku's comment is a lot like Kol's, intended to spark a conversation about aspects around and involving the topic, to broaden the debate. There are a lot of moving parts to consider.

"At the very least, we're gonna need things like this, where everyone can speak up. There's also the risk that if we can't agree and work together, we'll be reset."

The mention of the reset (and everything connected with it) has Daylight visibly flinching, his winglets pulling back to hide from imagined danger. He needs a few seconds to calm himself but he's ready to talk again. (Honestly, the lack of reaction to his presence is really helping Daylight speak up more-)

“I know… I know there won’t be one solution that will make everyone happy here. I think we can agree to that,” he starts off, trying not to fidget where he stands. Some won’t be happy with the idea of one individual calling the shots. Some won’t be comfortable with the idea of a group and its members overseeing them. Some won’t feel safe if everything is left up in the air. Daylight has seen the pros and cons of all these scenarios during his travels. “But… Um… The very least, we gotta agree to some… grounds, I guess? If we can't reach a conclusion on that aspect - since it's really big and stuff, I know - we should at least resolve other aspects then.

“Like- Who we can turn to for certain stuff like medical services or record-keeping or what to do for certain things and scenarios happen like... last time. Like what-" King? Zihuan? Sir?? "-Sir Cao Pi said. We gotta get organised. We gotta work with what we have and what we have right now is each other. Right?”

Daylight looks around to see the response to that, a little shy now but! Determined to try and be useful in this discussion.

Having observed this little gathering from the fringes since the beginning, Clarke sees an opportunity for an entrance during a lull in the discussion, and particularly when medical services are mentioned.

"I'm a medic. I'm not a full-fledged physician, but I was trained by one — my mother — and I'm familiar with triage medicine. I can patch up wounds, set broken bones, things like that."

With that said, she turns to the group and addresses them at large. "It's true, it's better if we're more organized and therefore more efficient, in case we have a repeat of the event that just happened after the lighthouse. We don't know anything about whether these spirits will attack again, and if the lighthouse keeper somehow is or isn't involved, and whether she'll provoke them or not." She purses her lips, before going on: "But in my experience, a single leader isn't going to be able to do the job alone. It's already been suggested that a committee might work, and I agree with this — we informally appoint a group of leaders, a small faction who can delegate and run several different aspects of tasks we need. Like a council, if you will; we can appoint someone to strategize, someone to organize defense, someone to train, someone to heal.

I think having more than one person in charge, ensures that the burden of leadership doesn't fall on just one single person's shoulders. Because that can be overwhelming, when the chips are falling."

Edited 2019-09-04 22:19 (UTC)

Sir is fine, Daylight, given the slight curl of a smile that evokes. But Cao Pi politely waits until Clarke offers her skills before summing up the general flow of opinions. His gaze sweeps toward Kol, first. "It would be wonderful if we were all intelligent, well-adjusted individuals who knew instinctively to employ common sense when acting and reacting to the unique dangers of this place. We are most certainly... none of that." It's wry, but just this side of actually turning judgmental, and he is quite deliberately including himself, not acting as if he's above flipping his shit in an emergency. "A committee or, as the lady says, council, offers the greatest balance. Balance of power, balance of opinions, and a balance between needing some kind of guidance without setting one lone person up as a dictator. Those who still feel as though they can live without leadership, well, they're welcome to do so, as long as their willful independence doesn't cost the rest of us our lives."

He gets up and strolls a little to nod at a few folks whose opinions have already aligned well with one another. "Master Riku brings up the most important point: the threat of reset. We're only just now beginning to understand what that means and what can cause it, and from what I've heard and read, it could be as simple as the population sitting around on their hands and not doing anything to explore or help. All of us running around on our own could cause the Lighthouse Keeper to look down at us, decide we're just making a mess, and reset us. That means calling in the spirits to kill us all. For the newcomers, know that this means a second and permanent death - possibly, depending on your views, a death with no afterlife. Nothing. Knowing that, it is imperative that we do everything in our power to avoid such a fate. If that means sucking up your pride and agreeing to work alongside the rest of the town, or at least not hampering the council in their efforts, consider it a small sacrifice to make in the interest of all of us continuing to live.

"The lady is right," he says in conclusion. "Defense, training, medical assistance, and so on. These all go much more swiftly, and with much less headache, if there is organization. Newcomers will learn about them and be able to find resources or volunteer their own much more quickly. I personally cannot see anything wrong with that, but I invite a counter argument if there is one."

To achieve balance requires imbalance. There's no such thing as a perfect balance, and Kol knows it. But his goal in life has always been to try and find it, even despite knowing it'll never be attainable. Something close to it is.

The threat of a "reset" isn't new to Kol, given the amount of times he's been neutralised by Klaus. The idea of it being permanent... He isn't ready to die yet. By the looks of these people and the rhythm of heir heartbeats, neither are they.

"And who decides who sits on this council?"

His questions may appear antagonistic, but it's not his intention. He's not opposed to the idea... but he isn't the biggest fan of a select few being at the helm.

Hey, it's a valid question.

"I suppose that depends on how many people volunteer to shoulder all that responsibility."

Cao Pi is clearly angling to be on said council, if only because he doesn't really have the skills to build or be friendly to newbies or...well, most of the other ideas floating around. He is super great at plans, though. His wry sarcasm implies that he doesn't expect there to be a fight about it. "In my experience, when it comes time to ask for help, a number of people who are eager to talk about it are less eager to actually do it. If we end up with too many volunteers, well, that would be a delightful problem to solve. A vote by the populace seems fair."

"Clarke," she corrects Cao Pi gently, and as unobtrusively as she can while the conversation flows around them. "Not 'lady', just Clarke."

She nods at Kol, acknowledging his skepticism while seeking to reassure. "A vote does seem fair. If someone has a particular skill set that's an unmet need, it stands to reason they should volunteer their services — but by all means, we should leave it up to the populace to decide who they want to guide them."

The lady. Usually it's Kol stirring people up, but seeing Cao Pi do it unintentionally is amusing. But he'll behave, so he doesn't try to rile the lady up anymore.

Despite feeling like he's being baited, Kol doesn't immediately put his hand up. What can he help with? Jokes? Pranks? He hardly doubts what he knows will be helpful, and he sincerely doubts anyone would care to learn it from him. Every time he's had his own independent thought, straying from the council of Elijah and Niklaus, he's ended up punished for it.

In some ways this may be a new start, but Kol has many bad habits and insecurities to shed.

Nodding at the suggestion of unmet skill sets being able to volunteer themselves, he continues easily, "You should consider having more than one person heading each section of this council. More than one medic is going to be needed—" he looks to Clarke and not unkindly continues, "— and I mean no offence, but there's going to be something you don't know that someone else will.

Same with defence, and whatever this training happens to be. If you don't want a reset, then we should use our best resources."

Themselves. Each other. It's common sense to him.

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sunborne - 2019-09-05 13:19 (UTC) - Expand

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Aziraphale actually claps for this speech. "Well said, Cao Pi, King of the Wei." It's been a long time since he's heard that kind of introduction, though, so he wonders where Cao Pi is from. "Yes, I think - the less deaths we have, the better. Though, if I may ask, what do you mean resurrection?"

Yes, he's new around here.

Well at least he seems sincere, even if Cao Pi closes his eyes briefly for a sigh. No, not the time to correct people on names. This is a worthy aside to the main topic, he did encourage the new round of arrivals to come and get their questions answered.

"It has happened a handful of times, in the last two months," he explains. "People whose lanterns were snuffed or who met death by some other means showed up again alive, through the church if I've heard correctly. But not all of them. There doesn't yet seem to be a pattern or a clear indication why some return and some are simply gone forever." Speaking of which... "We had an extensive and important mission go very wrong, a couple of weeks ago. More than a dozen died or vanished and of them, only a couple came back."

He looks very concerned about that, and prods for more information: "What was the mission for? And where were they last seen? I imagine with such a large group like that, it would be quite difficult to lose all of them."

And, very quietly, he asks: "And what do the ones who have returned have to say about it all?"

As to that second question, Cao Pi's eyes shift rather deliberately toward Rosinante's tall figure over there. He doesn't know who died and came back this most recent round, but he sure as hell knows that dude did once and could tell you all about it. "...you'll have to ask them, I haven't personally pried into their experiences."

But the rest, he knows about. "It was to connect the Lighthouse Keeper, who is more or less the one who controls the resets, to the network of tablets. She was out of contact and needed the access. It was a worthy cause, but it came at great price. The man who planned and organized the whole thing is dead, and has not returned. The others were divided into parties for protection. They disappeared in the forest, and given the savage spirits which attacked us here, it is likely they were killed by the same."

"Oh, Robin, right? I see," he says, as he contemplates this for awhile. Well, it seemed that their venture had at least been successful, if perilous. He supposes he should be grateful for the sacrifice - but what kind of sacrifice was it? Would they end up in another purgatory, or would they have moved on to the afterlife?

He hopes it's the latter. He hopes Winters has found peace.

"Could you tell me more of the spirits? All the ones in the town seem so very cordial. Well, maybe not cordial. But at the very least, they don't seem... violent."

Zihuan shrugs very slightly. "They are difficult to qualify, but you are mostly correct. The real danger seems to be from spirits who keep to the forest." He pauses, and decides he really doesn't care if this information prejudices anyone against the Keeper because, well, it's true. "The lighthouse blew a horn and it sent every spirit within hearing into a frenzy. Some panicked and fled, some turned catatonic, and some turned vicious and attacked. In the chaos, spirits which may have been friendly before reacted in terrible ways, there was no way to tell which of them would be afraid and which would turn violent."

"That..." he starts. "That's awful. Do we not know any more about these creatures? I seek to understand them better," he says. "I don't believe they were reset, no? So they must have a wealth of knowledge beyond our stay, and so far we only have the knowledge of Robin, who is less than forthcoming, and Dr. Ingram, who has confessed to only have been here shortly before a reset."

He supposes they could also ask the buildings themselves, if anyone had that sort of power. He had noticed that people had all sorts of strange and sundry powers that he would never have thought up before.

"You hit at the heart of the matter, in terms of gathering information," Cao Pi says smoothly, pacing back to take a seat. "Others have interacted with the spirits more than I have, they can tell you some things, but in a more general sense we know almost nothing. That lack of understanding could lead to disaster." He stretches a hand toward this curious person. "If you have such a desire, perhaps you could go a long way toward filling in our knowledge gaps."

The musical instrument idea is one he will encourage, if not participate in very much since, well, he's a poet, not a musician.

"Yes, thank you," he says, considering for a moment. "I think I shall. Anyway... To answer your point, I think it would be unlikely we could find someone we all trust enough to elect as our leader, yet. I suppose if Winters had named a successor, or if Robin would pick one, we would have to try things that way."

"Think not of either Winters or Robin, or the remaining doctor, as leaders," Cao Pi warns with a shake of his head. "The captain and doctor are merely people who remained after a reset. They have experience, nothing more. The Keeper is the same but removed from us by having a certain responsibility. Whether any previous groups have attempted organization or leadership, we simply have no way of knowing. Nothing remains of them except four peculiar individuals with their own experiences, one of whom is dead now."

"Perhaps we should think democratically, then," he suggests. "With forums like these, whenever we need to come to a decision on something. We all come from differing backgrounds and experiences, and... times, it would be insurmountable a task to compare them."

Aziraphale, having lived through Julius Caesar, having known Julius Caesar, absolutely does not want this proposed crown.

Similar time periods, but what did Caesar have that could compare to Cao Cao, Hero of Chaos? They'll have to trade notes later, Dad sure did know how to conquer a castle in his time.

"Of course, and I wouldn't presume to know everything about everyone," Zihuan agrees. "Here we have our actions to speak for us, more than our words. Those of us willing to step up and take action can pave the way for those who still want to help, but aren't yet prepared to even know how to begin. It seems we are in agreement, sir.

"Then what remains is finding out who, if anyone, is willing to step up."

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That One With the Meeting [OPEN]

Cao Pi | open

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Re: Cao Pi | open

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